Be generous: Invest in acts of charity. Charity yields high returns. Don’t hoard your goods; spread them around. Be a blessing to others. This could be your last night. [Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 (MSG)]

I’d like to share a story that is making the rounds on the Internet:

Years ago, a little boy was shocked when his sister told him there was no Santa. Tearfully, he went to his grandmother and told her of his disappointment. She quickly assured him that Santa existed; in fact, she would prove it to him. The two got into her car and drove to the local department store. Instead of visiting the store Santa, as he expected they would, his grandmother gave him $10 and told him to use it to purchase a gift for someone who needed one. Alone in the store, the boy pondered who should get a gift. Finally he decided on Robby, a boy in his classroom. Robby never went out at recess; although he said it was because he had a cough, everyone knew it was because he didn’t have a warm coat. The boy picked out a lovely red coat and brought it to the clerk with his money. He excitedly told her that it was a gift for a boy in his class who didn’t have a coat. She took all of his money and bagged up the coat.

Once home, Grandma removed the price tag, tucked it into her Bible, and helped her grandson box and wrap the coat. That evening the boy and his grandma went to Robby’s house and placed the beautifully packaged gift at the front door, rang the bell and hid behind the bushes. The joy they felt when Robby answered the door and picked up the box convinced the boy that Santa did, indeed, exist and that he and his grandma were on Santa’s team. That little boy is now a grown man. He still has Grandma’s Bible; the coat’s price tag of $19.95 is still in it.

Sunday, I saw proof of Santa and the spirit of Christmas when our church provided strollers for a nearby social service agency. (See “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”) The agency needed at least sixty strollers; our pastor promised one hundred. There were a few Scrooges this morning as the first few strollers rolled in. “Have you priced strollers lately?” someone asked. “How would we ever get one hundred?” asked another. Well, we didn’t get one hundred. We actually got nearly two hundred. Along with strollers, there were gifts of food, toys and diapers. This truly was the spirit of Christmas. Santa is alive and well in south Florida. Praise God!

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.  [Janice Maeditere]

 They err who think Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters through the heart. [Mrs. Paul M. Ell]

Update: Sunday, December 21, our pastor announced that 251 strollers had been donated!